Lost and Pound
by WhatNames
Summary: "Look," he whispered. Ladybug peered around him and gasped. It was a cardboard box. More specifically, it was a cardboard box full of kittens. The word "Gratuitement" was scrawled on the front in black marker.
1. Chapter 1

Ladybug and Chat Noir had just finished accepting an award from the mayor for their service to the city, and after dealing with the media for the last few hours, they were tired. They were bone tired. Ladybug swung past Chat with her yoyo and landed gracefully on the roof. Chat Noir jumped over the alley but his foot missed the ledge.

"Chat!" Ladybug shouted. He flailed his arms and tipped over the edge. With a crash, he landed tail-first into a dumpster. Ladybug ran to the side of the building and called down, "Are you okay?"

Chat had pulled himself out from the trash and was kneeling over something. Ladybug jumped down to join him. "What is it?" He looked back at her with the dopiest smile on his face.

"Look," he whispered. Ladybug peered around him and gasped.

It was a cardboard box. More specifically, it was a cardboard box full of kittens. The word "Gratuitement" was scrawled on the front in black marker.

"How long were they out here?"

Chat didn't answer her question, preferring to let the biggest kitten attack his fingers.

"Let's take them to the shelte-" Chat cut her off.

"I want to keep them." Chat hugged the box close.

"You what?"

"I'm gonna keep 'em," he repeated, staring at the kittens. "It's our duty to protect the citizens of Paris, right?"

"Right..."

"Well these cats are citizens of Paris too!"

"I guess I can't fault your logic," Ladybug laughed to herself. She sat down with Chat and pet the kittens with him. There was a big orange tabby that kept attacking Chat's hand, a curious calico with white whiskers, and a tiny tuxedo cat with blue eyes.

"Help me name them?"

Ladybug considered the tiny cats for a moment, drumming her fingers on the side of the box. The calico peeked its head up to watch her hand. She pointed at it. "This one is Porter."

"Porter?"

"Yeah! You know, she's curious, like a _re_ porter. Eh?" She shot Chat a sideways smile.

"My Lady," he deadpanned, "I didn't realize you told such terrible puns."

"You're one to talk!" Ladybug scoffed and shoved his shoulder - a little harder than she intended. He laughed and rubbed his arm.

"I'm kidding!" He paused, smiling. "I love you _r idea_! Great idea," he recovered.

Ladybug pretended not to notice. "What about the other two?"

The orange tabby chewed on one of Chat's fingers. He was infinitely grateful that Cataclysm was not a permanent feature of his gloves. "Maybe this guy should be Napawlean?"

"He's too big to be a Napawlean."

"How about Poz?"

"Paws? That's a bit on the nose."

"More like on the toes," he retorted. "He's Poz, the great and powerful!" Chat waved his hands dramatically.

"That's just awful," she said.

"But was it _paw_ ful?" He grinned.

Ladybug tried to muffle her giggle, to no avail. She snorted.

"Ah! You snort when you laugh?!" Chat's smile was a mile wide.

"Only- pfft -when it's a pun that bad."

"Um, all of my puns are that bad," he said. Ladybug snorted again. "But you're right, that's terrible. If I'm going with a book reference, how about Chester? For the Cheshire Cat?"

"That's a great name," Ladybug placed a hand on his shoulder. "And much better than Poz!" Only the tuxedo cat with blue eyes was left. "What are we gonna name the last one?"

"Phi."

"What?"

"Her name is Phi."

"Phi? Why?"

"No reason..." Ladybug shot him a look. Why did he choose Phi? Was he part of a fraternity? Is he old enough to be in a fraternity? He seems like the type of guy that'd be in a fraternity. No that wasn't quite right.

Chat would never admit that Phi was short for Aphid. Never. He would never say that he had seriously considered naming one of his future children Aphid. Well, at least he wouldn't tell _her_. The sound of a beeping miraculous brought them back to the present. Shadows stretched themselves down the sides of the alley. How long had they been transformed?

"Well it's about time for this cat to hit the sack," Chat said as he stood up and stretched. "These guys need to see their new home too!" Ladybug stood and handed him the box of mewling kittens. They looked up at her with their huge eyes.

"Are you sure you can take care of them?"

"Of course I can! I have my ways," he said with a grin.

"Alright Chat. Goodnight!"

"Mission Mew-ving Box has been Accomplished!" he said cheekily. He held out a fist.

Ladybug fist-bumped him back with a laugh. "Mission accomplished."

 _ **Epilogue...**_

Adrien was practically glowing when Marinette walked into school the next day. She was actually early for once since there weren't any akuma attacks yesterday. She slid into her seat next to Alya. "What's up with Adrien?"

"He says he got some new pets yesterday!"

"Oh, that's so sweet! What kind?"  
"Three little kittens! They are too cute. Ask him for the pictures." Alya gushed. Adrien turned around at the mention of cats.

"Kittens?" Marinette repeated. Something was niggling in the back of her brain but she elected to ignore it.

"Yeah, Natalie just approved it yesterday so I got to take them home!"

"I never pegged you as a cat-lover, Adrien." Nino said, "You always seemed like more of a fish guy."

"I did have a goldfish when I was younger."

"Adrien, show Marinette the pictures!" Alya encouraged.

"Oh, sure!" He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his photos. He held it up the screen to Marinette.

"This is Porter." Marinette's eyes widened. He swiped to the next picture.

"This is Chester." Her heart skipped a few beats. Adrien smiled up at her.

"And this is Phi!" Her jaw dropped.

"Marinette?"

That exact moment, future historians - ie Alya - would say, was the exact moment Marinette's brain imploded.

* * *

Wow! Congrats you read the whole thing! This idea came to me the other day and it was too cute to ignore.

First thing's first: the cover image is from the website school-clipart and it is adorable. (Yay for proper credit!) Moving right along...

I'm trying to do little exercises with these characters to get a good feel for their personalities since I'm presently writing a AU. It's about how the Medieval Chat was chosen and his adventures with Ladybug! They live in a land where magic is outlawed and have to figure out how to protect people without being caught by the royal guards. While I have your attention, if you're interested in that story, please let me know! I'd love to gauge people's interest in the idea. c:

Anyway, thanks so much for reading this and if you enjoyed it please review or favorite!

 **Mini 1/26 Update:** Thank you everyone so much for your support! I never expected this little fluff-fest to get so much attention! A lot of people have been asking me to continue, but I'm going to be honest, I never intended to continue this plot. Since you guys demanded it though, I will attempt to write a short continuation. If you have any ideas feel free to send them to me! I love reading all your lovely reviews and thanks again for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Since it was so highly demanded, here's part two of my kitten box and accidental reveal fic! I hope you all enjoy this fluffy and pun-y continuation and that you had an excellent Valentine's Day/Single's Awareness Day/Sunday!

* * *

Marinette paced back and forth, wearing a groove into the dirt. She had managed to hold in her internal screaming through the whole class and all the way outside, but she knew she needed answers, pronto. She needed to ask Adrien, to talk to Adrien, to find out if she was right. She sighed. That was the crux of the matter. If she was right, and Adrien was, well, who she thought he was...

She inhaled deeply.

She jumped as a too familiar voice called from behind her, "Marinette?" She whipped around to face the man of the hour. Adrien walked up to her, concern on his face.

"Hi A-Adrien!" She forced a smile onto her face. She was aware that she was showing too many teeth and she was probably completely freaking him out and if she was wrong about this then - oh gosh.

He leaned on the wall. If Marinette hadn't been so overwhelmed herself, she might have noticed Adrien's incessant foot tapping or his fingers drumming against his torso. "Marinette, this might not be my place to say, but you seemed upset last class. You even left without saying goodbye to Alya. And left your bag. Are you okay?" He tilted his head towards her. "Can I help?"

He held out her bag.

Any other day, Marinette would have grabbed the bag and scurried away. Any other day, she would have stumbled through a nonsensical conversation with her crush and ran. Any other day, this would be wonderful, magical even.

Marinette held out her hand. Adrien started to hand over her bag. Instead of taking it, she grabbed his hand and swiftly removed his ring. His eyes shot open and he lunged for the ring.

Her face fell. She had been right.

He reached past her but she clenched her fist around the ring. "I know what you were going to name Chester," she said quietly.

"What are you talking about Marinette? Please, give me my ring, it's important to me."

He tried to reach over her to grab her hand but she sidestepped. "You were going to name him Napawlean."

"Marinette?"

"Then Poz the Great and Powerful."

"What are you saying?" His voice betrayed his extreme level of discomfort.

"Porter stands for reporter." She didn't break eye contact, maintaining quiet intensity.

"Y-you... I don't understand." He took a step back. "If you're telling me that," he dropped out, not daring to say it aloud. "Then I, uh, oh... Wait." Adrien looked at her, really looked at her for the first time. "You're not disappointed?" he asked.

Marinette's face went from shocked to befuddled to concerned in a matter of seconds. "Why on earth would I be disappointed?" He avoided looking at her. "Adrien. You're one of my best friends and I l-like you a lot." She felt herself shaking as she touched her hand to his chin and guided his eyes to hers. "You're so important to me, why would I be disappointed?" Their eyes met for a brief moment of absolute clarity. Then Marinette realized exactly who she was talking to and who's chin she was touching and who was looking at _her_ and- She removed her hand and lurched away. They stood next to each other, neither wanting to look at the other directly.

"Here's your ring." She held it out.

"Thanks." He snatched it from her hand. They both recoiled from the physical contact.

"Th-there's something I don't get though," Marinette started. "Why aren't you more surprised? We've spent so long keeping our identities secret and now that we're here you-" He cut her off.

"Marinette, I already knew." Her whole body tensed. "Well, had a hunch anyway."

"Wh- how?" She shot him a searching look.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I see you everyday. One way or another you're always right there. It just took some time and some coincidences to have a good idea of who you might be." He didn't mention the yearbook he had carefully worked his way through or constantly refreshing the Ladyblog. "I had a hunch and when you reacted like that in class today, I just," he shrugged, "knew. Plus you listed all the names we came up with so if I doubted it was you, well..." his voice trailed off.

Wow it was hot out today.

He shuffled his feet back and forth. "You know, I've always wanted to ask you something," he said.

"Other than my secret identity?" her voice was shaky, but at least she was talking.

"Other than that. This is much more im _paw_ rtent." She rolled her eyes. "Why don't you like my puns?" he asked with a slight smile.

She blinked. "You really want to know?"

He nodded.

"Well, they _bug_ me. It _ticks_ me off that I can't _bee_ a part of the pun party," she deadpanned.

"Did you just-"

"I _mite_ have." Shocked, he stared at her. "C'mon Adrien, don't let me _ant_ agonize you." The corner of her mouth twitched.

"Did you look these up?" he asked, incredulous.

"Actually, I make them up on the _fly_." A proud grin finally spread across her face.

He shook his head. "I didn't think I could be more impressed by you than I was before."

She fixed him with an innocent look. "It was im _paw_ ssible?" she asked. Adrien barked out a laugh that quickly turning into a giggle fit. He tried to hold them down, but every time he looked over at Marinette another giggle escaped.

He fought through his laughter and managed to squeak out, "That was awful," before doubling over again.

Marinette snorted at his antics. "Pawful?" she said, and Adrien laughed harder. His contagious laughter overtook her in seconds. It started as another snort then a giggle and then full on belly laughter. They laughed until their chests hurt and tears ran down their cheeks. Every time their mirth died down, they made eye contact and the cycle started all over again. After several minutes filled with guffaws and hoots and hollers, their laughter subsided. Adrien chortled into his hand, trying to crush it before it bubbled up again. Marinette wiped the tears from her eyes.

Adrien slid down and leaned his head against the wall. "Say, Marinette?"

"Mm hm?" Marinette wiped the tears from her eyes.

He looked up at her from the ground and smiled. "I'm glad you found me," he said.

She smiled and sat next to him. "If there was any way this had to happen, I'm glad this is how it happened," she said. He reached for her hand and she wrapped her fingers around his. He hummed.

"Marinette?" Alya's voice called. Marinette started but before she could move, Alya's head poked around the corner of the school building. "There you are! I've been lo-" She cut herself off mid-sentence. Her eyes darted up and down the two people leaning against the wall. Her vision zeroed in on their intertwined fingers.

Then she saw the indecipherable look on Marinette's face. She backed away. "Nope!" Alya pointed at her friend. "Girl, you better call me when this," she gestured at the couple, oh gosh the _couple_ , "is over." She pegged them with one last searching look then retreated.

"I'll be hearing about that later," she sighed.

"I'm sorry, we can go if you want to." He motioned to stand up but she pulled him back.

"Shh," she rested her head on his shoulder. "This," she squeezed his hand, "is worth it."

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Well, there it is! I hope it was worth the wait and thank you for your reviews and favorites and follows, they mean the world to me! See you in the next one~


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